February 2011

Wow, I've become quite the workaholic lately. After six straight weeks of a crazy pace, working 10-11 hours a day has started feeling normal. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it has improved my disposition at least.

In nutshell form, I present to you the last couple weeks:

I have the nicest mom ever. Is there really anyone who anticipate her 30-something-year-old "child's" needs better than a mom? A week and a half ago, after visiting Greta at daycare, my mom surprised me by stopping by with a TON of groceries from Wegmans, including a variety of prepared foods and some simple things to throw together, some great staple pantry items, and some of our favorites (a bottle of red wine [for me], a six pack of a really nice microbrew [for Pat], and a giant package of blueberries [for Greta]). She knows us very well. It was just the sweetest thing, and we all appreciated it so much. That is really nice, and when you consider the fact that she doesn't live in the same city as us, it is even that much more impressive. Yeah, she's a nice lady for sure.

Last Thursday was the one year anniversary of getting laid off. Thinking about it still puts my stomach in a knot. I am definitely thankful to employed, and I am appreciative to be on a great team. But, man, damn if it's not still hard when I think about my old gig and my unsavory exit. Sigh. That is all.

On a lighter note, we had the BEST time this weekend. Saturday night was particularly fun. We went to a great event at RIT. We were invited to the number-one ranked RIT Tigers women's hockey game and a "tailgating" event before the game with lots of free food and fun. We were quite surprised that Greta wanted to have her face painted before the game like a "pink tiger." I couldn't stop looking at her and smiling.

Wow, right?

We really enjoyed the game. It was actually our first RIT hockey game, and while I was a bit of a hockey fan (go Bruins!) in high school, I've been out of the hockey loop. We were all SUPER into it, though, and it was a very, very exciting game. Unfortunately, the Tigers lost their first (and last) game of the season. It was a really disappointing loss, and I'm crazy superstitious (with an emphasis on crazy), so of course I thought maybe our presence is what jinxed them, and then I remembered we're not actually *that* important and that it doesn't work that way.

Okay, the last thing I wanted to share is that I was pleased with how or valentines came out this year. They were not only easy, but I thought they're pretty cute too. And this year they are completely original as well. I usually get ideas for crafty stuff from Familyfun.Go.com, but this year I was standing in stupidly long line at Christmas Tree Shop, waiting to buy a gift bag and birthday card, when I saw these super cute red straws bent into heart shapes. I thought it would be fun to do something with them. I wasn't quite sure what we could do, but I bought them sort of on a whim anyway. As we pulled out of the parking lot, I yelled, "I'm grasping at straws to be your valentine!" Pat was like, "Huh?" And I was like, "I'm awesome."

Anyway, here's the end result. Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours.